Chapter 436: Dog Kills Dog

Chapter 436: Chapter 436: Dog Kills Dog

Ji Huan’s words were so explosive they stunned everyone present into silence.

After a deathly silence, the scene exploded into chaos.

"Do you all remember? Around the time the results for the Scholar examination were posted, there was one night Ji the Fourth was carried home, covered in injuries..."

"How could I forget! Right after that, Old Man Ji fell ill, and Ji the Fourth never went back to the county school again..."

At the time, some people guessed that Ji Liantang might have been reprimanded for cheating, or perhaps he was being chased for debts by a Gambling House.

They never would have imagined the truth was even more outrageous than that.

Bribing his teacher, and sleeping with prostitutes...

"My god! This Ji the Fourth is a real piece of work!"

"All the money the whole family saved up, he took it to spend on whores. The nerve of him!"

"And he called himself ’practically a Scholar.’ Turns out he just bribed his teacher! He spent all his energy in the brothels; there’s no way in hell he could’ve passed the exam!"

"And to think Aunt Kang was telling everyone they split the family because of trouble from Xuelan, her mother, and her sister. I bet ten to one it was because of her son."

"Being bled dry by a parasite like that for so many years, mistreating their own children... No wonder the eldest branch of the family wanted to split. If it were me, I’d split too!"

"If I were his father, I’d have been angered to death long ago. And they still have the nerve to say Old Man Ji is like that because Wuan angered him!"

"Wuan has been decent enough about it. Her relationship with the Ji Family got so bad, and she still never said a word to anyone. If she hadn’t been pushed into a corner with no other choice..."

"And Old Man Ji... He knew exactly what kind of person his son was, yet he still let him be Wuan’s bookkeeper. Wasn’t that just setting Wuan up to fail?"

"When Ji Xiu’e was accusing Ji Huan before, he didn’t say a single good word in her defense. Serves him right for getting so angry he had a fit!"

Suddenly unmasked, Ji Liantang was completely dumbfounded, his face burning with shame.

He hadn’t expected Ji Huan to know all this, and he certainly never imagined she would air it all out in public.

When he came to his senses, he found everyone pointing at him, every gaze filled with contempt and disdain.

’Before tomorrow, the entire village will know...’

Ji Liantang, who had always prided himself on being refined and respectable, finally understood in this moment what it meant to have his reputation utterly destroyed.

He shot to his feet and ran out of West River Gully without looking back.

"Fourth! Fourth! Where are you going? Wait for Mother!"

Aunt Kang shouted, a bad feeling rising in her gut. She couldn’t be bothered with anything else and ran after Ji Liantang.

With everything he had painstakingly hidden suddenly laid bare for the world to see, Ji Qingshan completely fell apart.

He was like a tattered drum that had been patched countless times. This final, heavy blow had shattered its skin and scattered its frame, leaving it beyond repair.

After a violent fit of coughing, Ji Qingshan slowly, dazedly, turned to look at Ji Huan.

’Ruthless. That move was truly ruthless.’

Ji Huan’s lips curled, but there was no trace of a smile in her eyes.

"You brought this upon yourselves. You forced my hand."

Ji Qingshan received all nine of her silent words.

He closed his eyes, his expression turning completely ashen.

"Go... let’s go..."

He pointed in the direction of home.

Ji Xiu’e knew there was no point in dragging this out any longer. She shot Ji Huan a dark look and helped Ji Qingshan head back.

"Father, Big Sister, don’t go yet! It took so much to get here, you have to at least stay for the pig-butchering feast..."

Mrs. Zhu hurriedly tried to pull Ji Xiu’e back.

The only reason she’d dared to come was because she had her family to back her up. If they all left, leaving just her and Mingmao, she didn’t even have to think about it—Ji Huan would definitely not let her off easy.

Ji Xiu’e had reached her limit. She flung her hand away and cursed her for being an idiot.

"Hey! Big Sister, why are you cursing at me!"

"Because you’re an idiot! Who else would I curse?"

The two started to argue, drawing the attention of most of the crowd.

Just then, a small ball rolled to Ji Huan’s feet.

As Ji Huan lowered her head to look, a black shadow leaped through the air toward her.

"Watch out!"

At the same time as the low shout, Ji Huan was shoved aside by a powerful force.

As she fell, she glimpsed a white shadow leaping at the black one.

Immediately after, the chaotic sounds of tearing and biting filled her ears.

It didn’t sound like a dog, but more like a wild beast—the most ferocious kind imaginable.

Ji Xuelan was the first to react, rushing over to help Ji Huan up.

"Are you okay? You must be terrified! Did you get hurt when you fell?"

"I’m fine."

Ji Huan shook her head and looked at the young man with the notched eyebrow who was standing protectively in front of her.

He was the one who had just pushed her out of the way at the critical moment.

It might have seemed like a simple gesture, but if Ding hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, the young man would most likely be dead or grievously injured by now.

Ding!

Ji Huan pushed past the young man with the notched eyebrow and looked toward the open space in front of them. With just one glance, her pupils contracted.

Beside her, Ji Xuelan couldn’t hold it in any longer and turned away to vomit violently.

You couldn’t blame her for reacting that way; the scene was utterly gruesome and too horrific to behold.

The onlookers were terrified as well and all backed far away.

Ji Huan calmed herself, stepped a little closer, and called out Ding’s name while observing the scene.

The black dog must have been killed by a single bite to the throat, but Ding still hadn’t stopped its attack.

The smell of blood seemed to have awakened some latent ferocity within him. Even though his opponent was lifeless, he refused to let go, tearing the corpse to shreds with low growls.

This utterly feral display was truly terrifying to watch.

But upon hearing that familiar call, Ding stopped immediately, abandoned his prey, and turned to run toward Ji Huan.

Ji Huan looked at Ding, his white fur stained almost completely red with blood, and barely recognized him.

The others had much the same reaction.

In the past, wherever Ji Huan went, Ding would follow behind her, tongue lolling, head bobbing, performing the quirky little tricks Ji Huan had taught him.

The hired hands often joked that Ding was born with a "smiling face," and that he seemed to be grinning at everyone he saw.

It was precisely because this past impression was so strong that they found it even harder to believe—could this crazed, ferocious, and powerful creature really be the same adorable little Ding?

Anyone who had ever interacted with Ding couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their spine, thinking, ’Thank goodness I’ve never made him angry.’

’No, wait. It should be, thank goodness I’ve never provoked Ji Huan...’

Ding couldn’t care less what others thought. His murderous aura hadn’t even faded, yet he was already back to his usual goofy, adorable self, trying his best to nuzzle against Ji Huan.

Ji Huan snapped out of it, and disgusted by all the blood on him, she poked him on the forehead with a finger, making him sit on the spot.

Ding’s eyes were full of confused hurt, but he obediently sat down.

Ji Huan still remembered the bloodlust in his eyes, and seeing his innocent, childlike expression now, her mind was in turmoil.

"AHHH!!!"

Huang Juncai stared blankly at the black dog’s corpse for a long time before suddenly erupting.

After a hoarse scream, he suddenly pointed at Ji Huan, his eyes holding the same cold light as his black dog’s when it lunged at her—a look that wanted to drink blood and devour flesh.

"It was you! You had your dog kill Heizi! Are you going to have it kill me too? Kill all of us? You evil woman, you’ll die a miserable death!"

"Are you blind?! It was clearly your dog that went crazy and tried to bite Wuan! We all saw it with our own eyes, who are you trying to frame?! It’s a good thing Wuan is okay. If anything had happened to her today, not a single one of you would be leaving West River Gully!"

As soon as Widow Xie finished speaking, the other hired hands all chimed in their agreement.

It was true that the black dog had attacked Ji Huan first. Even if Ding had been excessively vicious, it was only because he was desperate to protect his master.

But was Huang Juncai the type of person to listen to reason?

’Ever since he was bitten by that dog when he climbed the wall, he had bought the well-trained Heizi from a dog trader. The trader had repeatedly assured him that killing a woman would be no problem... If it weren’t for that damned Ding, the one lying in pieces on the ground right now would be Ji Huan.’

"Don’t think you can just distort the facts because you have more people! The fact is her dog killed my dog! Today, she has to hand her dog over to me. I’m going to beat it to death and get justice for Heizi!"

Huang Juncai kept talking about beating Ding to death, but his beady eyes were locked on Ji Huan. It was obvious who he really wanted to beat to death.

Ji Huan bent down, picked up the small wooden ball, and weighed it in her palm. Suddenly, she swung her arm in a wide arc and hurled it at Huang Juncai’s face!

"Shut up!"